My grandpa born and raised on the south side of Chicago is my hero. My grandpa has owned a cleaners, worked and the Chicago Board of Trade, has season tickets for my favorite baseball team the Chicago White Sox, has an amazing movie theater in his basement but the most impressive part is the way he takes care of my family.

He was raised on the south side of chicago to a very poor but very loving family. When he was young his father died of heart complications and his mom lost it she ended up getting very sick and put in a home. He also has a older brother who was a great inspiration to my grandpa. They both had to work for themselves and their mother. My grandpa was a track star whose Mile was 4:30 and he was also a nerd. In track he ended up losing to a future Olympian by just a few seconds. My grandpa went to Leo High School and when he graduated he went to Depaul in the city. He graduated from Depaul and worked at a television place where he met my grandma. After many years of working there he got a job at the Chicago Board of Trade and worked his way up to being the head supervisor. During his time at the Board of Trade he had two children my mom Lisa and my Uncle Todd who eventually become my God Father. Later in his career my grandpa retired from the Board and opened up a cleaners in Palatine called Advantage cleaners. Then eventually the Board called him and said they really needed him back so he gave the cleaners to my Uncle and ended up going back. My grandpa went from being a very poor and hard working man to a hard working, tall skinny man with a little bit of gut, and fantastic man.

In 2009 my Grandpa retired from the Board and I want to say in 2005-2006 he and my uncle sold the cleaners because my uncle wanted to go in a different direction and my grandpa was caught up at the Board back then. When he sold the cleaners I was like super sad but super happy. I was sad because I loved that cleaners every time I went my uncle would put me in the laundry cart and push me around the whole store and I would act like I was driving and it was all such a blast. To this day I miss that cleaners, but I was very happy he sold it because it meant more time at grandpas house actually with him. When I was younger I would always go to their house on tuesdays and thursdays because those are the days that I didn't have pre-school but it would be during the day when he was not home. Since he wasn't home my grandma and I couldn’t watch movies in his theater room, couldn’t play mini basketball, we just couldn’t do anything besides play with my toys. When he did get home at around 4:30-5 we would get my wagon and pick up as many rocks as possible and skip them in the pond. My favorite hobby to do with my grandpa is go to White Sox games. My grandpa made sure I was a Sox fan or i don't know what he would have done. Hes been a season ticket holder for over 25 years and for now about 9 years now I have gone to every single opening day that was at home for the White Sox with him. My grandpa and I were also at Mark Buehrle’s Perfect game which is a very big piece of not only the White Sox and MLB history it’s part of my history. About 5 years ago my dad started having an affair I found out about 6 months through after about a year and a half of him being in and out of the house my parents arguing and all that crap my parents decided to get a divorce. My grandpa made sure that my mom would have my brother and I, the cars, and the house. My family and I may have had to move away from the rest of our family and friends if my grandpa didn’t have my dad sign a piece of paper stating all of that. I got my permit over the summer and I got to have my first drive with my grandpa. It was great but now that he's getting older he's a little hectic but thats the least of his issues.

I have never met one person that has anything against my grandpa. My friend Ryan Scott and his family always tell me how blessed I am to have such and amazing grandpa I have. My adult hood is right around the corner, if I had the choice I would want to live like my grandpa. My grandpa has always been there for me hes always pushed me in the right direction and has never ever let me down on anything and I mean anything. He honestly has made me the person I am today.